Secure fast packet switch having improved memory utilization

Abstract

In a secure fast packet switch having a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports, a method of determining which port in the plurality of output ports data that is received on one input port in the plurality of input ports is to be sent to, the method including the steps of determining a physical layer address of a sending node, determining a physical layer address of a receiving node, determining an input port in the plurality of input ports that the data was received on, determining if the physical layer address of the sending node and the physical layer address of the receiving node are an allowed combination, determining the magnitude of the node identification number of the sending node, determining the magnitude of the node identification number of the receiving node, obtaining outbound port information from a first predetermined location in a data structure stored in a memory if the node identification number of the sending node is greater than the node identification number of the receiving node, and obtaining outbound port information from a second predetermined location in the data structure stored in the memory if the node identification number of the sending node is less than the node identification number of the receiving node. Circuitry that carries out the method is also described along with an exemplary data structure.

Description

1. Field of the InventionThe invention relates generally to communication networks, and more particularly to an apparatus, method, and data structure for providing secure internetworking of packet-based LAN and WAN segments by establishing temporary connections which are protocol independent and transparent to the end systems.2. Discussion of the Related ArtSecure Fast Packet Switching is a new technology that provides the same or better reliability and security as routers and with much greater packet switching performance, without an increase in cost.SFPS provides for high performance packet switching based on source and destination MAC IDs--the unique medium access control (MAC) address assigned to each end system by the IEEE. End-to-end connections are determined by a network management application that provides security and best path routing determinations based on a number of constraints. By switching packets based only on MAC layer information, the network infrastructure can r...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This "flooding" results in loss of control over network access, bandwidth, information security, network performance and reliability.

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